


Nightmares

by celeste9



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Male-Female Friendship, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-03
Updated: 2016-01-03
Packaged: 2018-05-11 07:45:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5619127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celeste9/pseuds/celeste9
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In search of relief from a bad dream, Poe finds Rey.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> Another fic fest fill. I'm sorry, guys, I can't seem to stop writing Star Wars. For the prompt: Poe/Any, Poe likes to cuddle people after having nightmares. It didn't end up as shippy or as fluffy as I had originally intended, but there you go.

Poe awoke gasping. For a few seconds he couldn’t remember where he was, thought maybe he was back - but he wasn’t, he was in his own bunk, and it was just as small and uncomfortable as it always was. Somehow that seemed like a reassurance.

He counted his breaths in his head, forcing himself to slow them down. Gradually he started to feel more relaxed.

He suspected going back to sleep was out of the question, though. Instead he got up, put a jacket on over his undershirt and a pair of pants, pulled on his boots. He padded quietly out into the halls of the base. He hardly saw anyone, a few guards, a couple of pilots passing a bottle between them.

Nodding to a guard by the doors and then walking outside, he was surprised to find Rey sitting on the ground and looking up at the stars. There was a blanket wrapped around her thin shoulders.

Poe dropped down beside her. “Hey.”

Rey looked sideways at him. “Hey. What are you doing awake?”

“Funny, I was gonna ask you the same thing.”

She looked back up at the sky. “Couldn’t sleep.”

“Me neither.” Poe stopped himself from shuddering. Sometimes he thought he could still feel Ren digging around in his head and he -

Rey shivered.

“Cold?”

She shrugged. “Desert planet. Nights were cold, but still, it feels like… Like I can’t get warm anywhere else.”

Poe inched closer to her. He wanted to curve his arm around her shoulders but he wasn’t sure if she would accept it. He also wasn’t sure if he wanted to do it for her, or for himself. He hated to be alone after… after. It made him feel like he was still back in that dark room, screaming, with no one to hear. Giving in even as he tried to fight, unable to keep his secrets, the Resistance’s secrets.

“Are you okay?” Rey asked. She was peering intently at him, as if she could read his thoughts. Hell, maybe she could.

“Just a nightmare. It’s fine.”

Rey’s features shifted minutely, sympathy shining through. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Silence fell. Poe wondered if he should go. Maybe Rey had only come out here because she wanted to be alone, and here he was, infringing upon her space. He could try to find Pava, she - Oh, no, she’d definitely be asleep, she had an early run tomorrow. Maybe Finn. Finn liked hugs. Maybe he wouldn’t mind if Poe came and asked for one. Except he’d want to know what was wrong, and he’d be full of concern and questions, and Poe wasn’t sure if he could face that right now. Besides, he could feel his cheeks burning just from the idea of barging in on Finn and asking if they could have a quick cuddle.

Still, he should go. He should let Rey be. He couldn’t quite manage to force himself up, though.

“I have nightmares, sometimes, too,” Rey said, her voice so soft.

Surprised, Poe turned towards her. She seemed more hunched than before, her body filled with tension, and she wasn’t looking at him. She stared resolutely ahead of her, gaze focused on nothing in particular.

She had nightmares, of course she did. The life she must have had, left on that planet, forced to fend for herself, waiting for the return of a family that never came. The First Order and Kylo Ren, a destiny thrust upon her that she still didn’t understand.

Poe felt ashamed for worrying about his own petty problems, for being frightened by his own bad dreams.

“I just…” Rey swallowed. “I just wanted you to know that I understand. Or at least, I might. I could understand. I know we’re different. I know you…” She darted a swift glance at him. “I heard about what happened to you.”

“It was nothing compared to--” Poe stopped himself. He didn’t know what to say without sounding like a fool. He just felt… He wanted someone to _be_ there. And maybe his bad memories weren’t as bad as hers, but they were still his, and he was still afraid, and maybe that was enough.

“I don’t want to be alone,” Poe confessed.

The silence was painful and awkward. Poe wished he had never said anything. Rey still hardly knew him, after all, she didn’t want to be saddled with his baggage, and the girl was barely socialized herself, she -

Rey shifted, holding one arm out in a wordless invitation.

Poe blinked at her.

“Maybe I don’t want to be alone, either,” Rey said, biting her lip.

Poe moved into the circle of warmth she offered him, leaning against her side as she wrapped her arm around him, the blanket settling around them both. He let his head rest on her shoulder, and Rey tilted her head against his. Poe exhaled in relief, and felt a little bit better already.

**_End_ **


End file.
